


The Hero's Future

by lady_oneder



Series: The Hero's Journey [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Maria Stark's Good Parenting, Parent Tony Stark, Precious Peter Parker, Time Travel, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-07-12 15:02:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19948135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_oneder/pseuds/lady_oneder
Summary: Tony thought he was done with all the Avengers business since Cap got to opt out. It was a bit harder to avoid when the people were literally related to you. He just hoped Peter and Morgan could keep their mouths shut long enough for Strange to fix things.ORObadiah Stane, Howard Stark, and Maria Stark come to the future where Tony has to deal.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is completely unrelated to Hero, if you've read that. If you haven't you should still read it. It's pretty good. I said I would make more of these things, and there's already another one besides this one in the works.  
> I am taking suggestions for where you would like to see this go. This first chapter is still fairly vague.

“We have a problem,” Rhodey informed him over the phone.

“That’s vague,” Tony said, leaning back on the couch. “What’s up?”

“This is serious. I don’t know how to explain to you how serious this is.” Tony froze, his eyes darting to Morgan who was helping Peter build another Lego set.

“Deadly?” Tony asked quietly. Rhodey was quiet. “Rhodey?”

“No. I don’t know how to explain this to you…” Rhodey sounded desperate and stressed. Tony bit his lip, closing his eyes to try to eliminate all of the pessimistic thoughts that were starting to flood his head.

“Alright, I’m coming,” Tony mumbled. He didn’t bother to ask if he needed a suit because he was bringing one anyway. Rhodey seemed relieved as he thanked Tony before hanging up. “Hey, Pete. I need to make a run.”

“’Kay,” Peter mumbled, not taking his eyes off of what he was doing. Tony rolled his eyes fondly as Morgan mimicked him.

“Pepper should be home in a couple hours. I might be back before then.”

“’Kay.”

“Love you, guys,” Tony called out as he started to walk out the door.

“Love you too,” both of them called back, still not taking their eyes off of what they were doing. Tony watched fondly for a few seconds before closing the door. He started the car, ignoring the way his heart seemed to beat harder, and he drove off to the compound.

The road was familiar to him, no matter how hard he tried to forget it. He hadn’t been back in a few months, grateful for the way everyone seemed to leave him out of Avengers related business these days. He had enough on his plate making sure Spiderman didn’t die every time he went out. He knew the situation must be dire if Rhodey was pulling him into it, either that or it directly related to him. He wasn’t excited to find out what it was either way.

Rhodey was there to greet him when he pulled up, making him that much more nervous. Rhodey had on a false smile to try and convince Tony that nothing was really wrong. Tony shared a hug, hoping his friend couldn’t feel the pounding of his heart against his chest.

“What’s going on?” Tony asked casually as they walked inside.

“It’s about the Time Stone,” Rhodey said. Tony frowned, biting his lip. “Strange was messing with it—”

“When does it end?” Tony mumbled to himself, already hating where this was going. “What happened?” Rhodey didn’t say anything since they were arriving to the designated lab. Rhodey threw one more concerned look at Tony before opening the door, exposing him to what the problem was.

Sitting in a chair being examined by Strange himself was unmistakably Howard Stark. Tony blinked, having to look back at Rhodey to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. The look his friend was giving him was all he needed to confirm what was happening. Next to Howard was a very pregnant Maria Stark followed by an ever-concerned Obadiah Stane. Obie was the first one to look up and notice them standing there.

“Holy shit, Howard,” Obie breathed, surprising Tony with how young he sounded. Everyone in the room looked up to see Tony and Rhodey standing there. “Is that him?” Obie asked, turning to Strange.

“No, that is not an older version of Howard,” Strange deadpanned.

“Bullshit,” Howard said, standing to get a closer look at Tony. Tony leaned back as the man got closer, raising an eyebrow.

“Personal space?” Tony mumbled, earning a surprised look from Howard.

“That’s not what I sound like, do I?” Howard asked, looking back at Obie and Maria who were shaking their heads, also scrutinizing Tony. “Who are you? What’s your name?”

“Uh…” Tony hummed, looking at Rhodey, who shrugging his shoulders. Tony threw a look at Strange, who was shaking his head. “Tony.”

“Tony,” Howard whispered. He looked back at his newlywed, particularly at the large belly she was sporting. “As in Anthony.”

“No,” Strange protested.

“Why do I feel like this is a bad idea?” Tony whispered to Rhodey.

“Because it probably is,” Rhodey whispered back. Everyone looked back at Tony.

“You’re mine,” Howard whispered. Tony’s nose scrunched up.

“Strange, what did you do?” Tony called out. Suddenly, he remembered Peter and Morgan at home and wondered how long it would be before he went home.

“What did I do?” Strange scoffed. “What did _you_ do? All these people are related to you in one fashion or another.”

“This blame game is fun and all,” Rhodey interrupted to facilitate, “but I think we should be focusing more on fixing this problem.”

“They have to be telling the truth, Howard,” Maria said softly. She stood despite the two men’s protests. She walked up to Tony in a similar state of incredulity as her husband and his partner.

“This is clearly Strange’s area, so we’ll need to let him handle how they’re going to get back,” Rhodey explained.

“What?” Strange scoffed.

“But we can’t let anybody else find out about them. So we’ll have to handle them,” Rhodey continued.

“What?” Tony scoffed. Rhodey gave both of them annoyed looks. “Don’t look at me like that. They can’t come with me!”

“This directly involves you!”

“It didn’t until you involved me,” Tony complained. “They weren’t supposed to know I exist.”

“You obviously exist!” Rhodey asserted, gesturing to Maria’s belly. This confirmed it for the visitors as to who Tony really was. None of them could take their eyes off of Tony, who wasn’t given them the time of day as he stressed out over the entire situation.

“Where are the others?” Tony asked, referring the Avengers who usually occupied the _Avengers_ compound. Rhodey shrugged.

“On various missions, Tony. They don’t just sit around all day waiting for you to need them.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that,” Tony muttered. “How did you find them?”

“They appeared in the New York Sanctum when Strange was messing with the stone,” Rhodey explained.

“I wasn’t messing with it,” Strange denied.

“What are you guys talking about? What’s happening to us?” Howard asked, clearly upset at being left out of the conversation.

“You’re going to stay with Tony until we can figure out—”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Tony protested. “Stay with me?”

“Where else would they go?” Rhodey all but yelled. “Tony, work with me.”

“No, you don’t understand what you’re doing. You’re telling me that they’re from the past, and you want to put them with the person they have to closest connection to!”

“Do you understand what could happen if they find out _anything_ about me?” Tony stressed. “I can’t take them home.”

“They aren’t going to ask you anything, are they?” Rhodey said, pointedly looking at the people in question. They all shook their heads innocently, concerned by how Tony seemed to be reacting. Tony pulled Rhodey aside.

“What about the whole situation with all three of them being dead, one of which tried to kill me?” Tony muttered, side-eyeing the group.

“Tony, I wouldn’t send them with you if we had any other options. If someone finds out that they’re here, what do you think people are going to want to do with the Time Stone?” Rhodey reasoned. “People who are supposed to be dead coming back? It’d be a catastrophe”

“I get it,” Tony mumbled bitterly. “What are you going to be doing?”

“Seeing as I’m staying here, I guess I’ll be trying to cover our tracks,” Rhodey answered. When they returned to the group, Tony could tell that his parents and godfather were trying their best to withhold their questions. Obie’s face put a terrible feeling in his stomach.

“No leisure time, Strange,” Tony warned. “Get this done.” Tony didn’t wait for Strange to snap back, walking out of the lab and expecting his visitors to follow him. They did so, making Tony realize he didn’t exactly choose the family friendly vehicle when driving over here. Howard whistled when he caught sight of the car.

“Christ, this is smooth,” the young man complimented, giving his son a smile. “How much did it cost ya?”

“I forgot,” Tony answered honestly, gesturing for the men to get in the back. Maria smiled as Tony helped her into the passenger seat, making Tony blink at her before he smiled back.

“But you still run my business, don’t you? That’s how you can afford it,” Howard asked, clearly getting excited. Maria tosses her husband a warning look.

“What did we say about questions?” Tony warned. Howard sat back, a look of amazing still on his face. Tony felt like he was digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole of panic as he approached the cabin.

“This is so cozy,” Maria said when she caught sight of it, a fond smile on her face.

“This was not what I expected,” Howard muttered, his eye squinting at the house. Tony parked, going over to help Maria get out of the car and walk on the uneven ground towards the front door. Tony turned the handle, sighing to himself when he realized it was unlocked.

“Why is the door unlocked?” Tony called out as he stepped inside. His visitors clearly weren’t expecting him to live with others, given by the way they all shared a look of surprise. Tony waited to hear the sound of pattering feet, but he heard nothing. “Pete? Morgan?”

“Yeah!” They called back. Tony rolled his eyes and walked to the living room where they were in the exact same spot as before.

“Did you seriously not get up this entire time?” Tony scolded.

“Once,” Peter said. “I had to go to the bathroom.”

“You couldn’t have locked the door like I request that you do when I leave?”

“The front door is not on the way to the bathroom!” Peter defended himself, still focused on the Legos. They had might a lot of progress since he’d been gone, but they still had quite a bit to go.

“Get up, anyway. We have guests,” Tony said. Peter and Morgan simultaneously groaned. “Peter, you’re sixteen. Is this necessary?”

“I don’t wanna,” Peter whined. Peter’s head snapped towards the living room entrance suddenly. Tony turned to see that his guests had finally followed him. “That’s Obadiah St—” Peter started whispering very loudly before Tony could put a hand over his mouth, forcing a smile. Peter frowned at him, his eyes flickering back and forth between Tony and the guests before the widened.

“Can you give us a minute?” Tony said to his parents and Obadiah. When they were out of view, Tony started whispering to his kids. “I’m guessing you understand what’s going on now.” Peter shook his head.

“No, not at all. I thought he was dead,” Peter whispered back, referring to Obadiah.

“He is, and those other two are my late parents.” Peter’s eyes widened again, his mouth opening as he started to put things together.

“Does this have to do with Dr. Strange?” Morgan asked, making both Tony and Peter’s heads snap towards her.

“Huh?” Peter breathed. “How does she know that before me?”

“Well, she’s right,” Tony admitted with a sigh. “They’re real, which means they have to go back. Do you understand what that means?”

“Don’t say anything?” Peter offered. Morgan nodded along enthusiastically

“Exactly, no matter how much they pry.”

His guests had clearly been snooping around photos and items when he returned to retrieve them, not that he had much the hide here besides his lab. When he and Pepper initially moved here, they agreed on making their occupations a very separate part of their lives. For the most part, it worked until the Infinity Stones came into play.

“Anthony,” Maria called when he came into view. She was holding a picture frame, pointing to Pepper. “Who’s this?”

“My wife, Pepper,” Tony answered honestly, ignoring the incredulous look Peter gave him. “These are my kids, Peter and Morgan.” Howard took this as an opportunity to shake Peter’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, son. Again, at least,” Howard said with a smile. “They said the year it 2023. I imagine I look quite different.”

“Can probably say that again,” Peter mumbled, glaring when Tony nudged him in the ribs.

“Hi, Morgan,” Maria greeted, crouching down to be eye to eye with the little girl. “You are very pretty, just like your mother.” Morgan’s practically gleamed.

“Thank you. You’re pretty too. You have a baby in your belly,” Morgan pointed out as if Maria hadn’t notice. Maria giggled a bit and nodded.

“Yes. He’s a boy,” Maria whispered like it was a secret. Morgan seemed to accept that fact and moved back to Peter’s side.

“This, as you know, is Maria,” Tony stressed, gesturing to Maria. “Howard, and Obie.” It killed him inside to call the name by his nickname, but the pretenses were still important at this stage. “Peter is going to be offering his room—”

“Aw, what!” Peter complained.

“Unless he wants to stay with his aunt for the week,” Tony threatened, making Peter pout. Tony turned to see his parents astonished reactions. “On his mother’s side,” he clarified.

“Why is Peter being threatened?” Everyone in the room turned when Pepper entered, having heard the tail end of the conversation. She looked at their guests but didn’t look too surprised. “Oh.”

“Seeing as how you’re not threatening me with a cleaver, I’m guessing Rhodey called you?” Tony asked. Pepper gave him a kiss on the cheek as a greeting before giving him a sickly-sweet smile and nodding. “So you know this is totally not my fault.”

“Really? That’s not what Dr. Strange was speculating,” Pepper said, setting her bag down. “I’m Pepper,” she introduced herself, shaking hands with everyone in the room. Tony could see the hesitant look on her face when she shook Obadiah’s hand. Pepper took in Maria’s belly. “And this must be Tony…” Pepper exchanged a look with Tony.

“I reiterate that this is not my fault,” Tony said.

“Sorry, I’m just startled by how young you are,” Pepper bluffed.

“Maybe it’s best that we turn in for the night?” Maria suggested.

“What? Are you kidding me? I want to—” Howard cut himself off when he saw the disapproving look his wife was giving him. “Go to bed. Yeah, that was it.”

“I’m not tired,” Morgan whined, hanging onto her dad’s legs. Pepper gave him a disapproving look as he bent down to pick her up.

“Don’t indulge her, Tony” Pepper scolded.

“What? I’m not!” Tony said, smiling when Morgan laid her head on his shoulder. “I was just going to get her snack—”

“Bed. Both of you,” Pepper insisted. “And you still have homework, don’t you?” Pepper asked Peter, who shrugged noncommittedly.

“Take note,” Obadiah told Howard and Maria. “This is what you two are going to be like.” Obadiah motioned specifically towards Tony, who was still holding Morgan. Howard waved him off.

“She’s a girl. It’s different,” Howard said. Pepper offered to show them where they’d be staying, with Obadiah taking the guest room turned Peter’s room, and Tony’s parents taking their extra guest room.

* * *

Maria sat in bed with her husband later that night. He was staring at the ceiling, still in shock from how the entire day had turned out.

“Are you upset?” Maria asked softly. Howard frowned.

“No. What? Why would I be upset?” Howard asked.

“I don’t know. You just met your son before he was even born,” Maria explained softly. “I’d imagine quite a lot of things are running through your mind.”

“What about you?” Howard asked. “He’s your son too.” She smiled at him.

“You’re the one with self-doubt,” Maria reminded him. “What now, now that you’ve seen what he’s become?”

“What he’s become?” Howard repeated.

“A father. A husband. A humble rich man who decides to live in a cabin instead of a mansion, like someone I know,” Maria teased. Howard snorted.

“That’s him. That has nothing to do with me.”

“You’re afraid you’re going to screw something up. You can’t look at that man and tell me you failed.”

“Maybe it has nothing to do with me,” Howard mumbled. Maria poked his head. Howard swatted her hand and frowned at her as she giggled. “What are you doing?”

“Checking to see if there’s still something up there,” Maria teased. “Anthony is a mirror of you. If I didn’t see myself in him as well, I’d say that they were pulling our legs.”

“If only we could see ourselves,” Howard whispered. If Tony was driving in luxury without a second thought to how much it cost, Howard couldn’t even imagine the kind success Stark Industries must be having.

* * *

Tony was leaning over the counter with his coffee, watching Morgan munch away at her Poptarts. It wasn’t the healthiest choice, but they would both face no consequences as long as she finished before Pepper got up.

“Mind if I get a cup of that?” Tony jumped, turning around to see Obadiah standing in the archway. “Scare ya?”

“Yeah, sure,” Tony said, pulling out another mug and pouring some coffee. Obadiah patted Tony on the shoulder, making him flinch without meaning to. Obadiah smiled at Morgan, who didn’t even notice. She was too busy eating.

“Beautiful girl there,” Obadiah complimented.

“Uh, thanks,” Tony muttered, taking another sip.

“But your son is inheriting the company, isn’t he?” Tony froze, looking at Obadiah over his coffee cup.

“Uh, sure,” Tony answered vaguely. Obadiah barked out a laugh.

“You can be honest with me, son. I know you have to do the whole secret keeping thing, but this is your godfather you’re speaking to.” Tony laughed along falsely.

“Oh, I know,” Tony muttered to himself.

“Lots of laughs in here,” Maria said as she entered the room with Howard tailing her. Everyone except Tony and Morgan were already dressed in their borrowed clothes, used to the old-fashioned way of doing things. They were probably a bit confused at Morgan’s Spiderman pajamas, especially seeing as they didn’t know who that was supposed to be. “Good morning.”

“Mornin’” Tony mumbled back tiredly. He smacked a hand on the counter, Morgan looked up with a deadpan expression. He nodded towards his parents.

“Morning,” Morgan called out, returning to her juice. Maria smiled at her.

“She’s adorable, Anthony,” Maria said, moving further into the kitchen. Morgan grinned at her.

“Thank you,” she responded. Howard sighed and nodded at Obadiah’s cup.

“Let me get one of those,” he said tiredly. Tony pulled out another cup, sliding it towards him when it was filled with coffee. “Where’s your boy?” Tony paused.

“Was he not on the couch?” Everyone who had walked in shook their heads. Tony tried to recall if he saw Peter on the couch when he walked past to the kitchen, but he all he remembered was himself blearily walking to get a cup of coffee. “Goddammit…” Howard snorted.

“Son sneak out on you?” Tony get him a heatless glare before walking to the living room to see his bag still leaning against the couch but a certain suit missing.

“He likes to…go on runs sometimes,” Tony made up a lie on the spot. He sighed. “Sometimes…”

“Is that going to be a problem with you?” The young man teased. Tony snorted, giving his father a pitiful look.

“Oh, Peter’s a star compared to me.” Maria and Obadiah laughed, but Howard went pale. Peter came marching through the front door seconds later. “Speak of the devil.” Peter stood like a deer in headlights, his eyes flickering between everyone in the room. He had a drawstring bag on his back, most likely containing the suit that kept him busy this morning.

“I went…running?” Peter offered. Tony winked at him from behind everyone, making Peter sigh in relief.

“Yeah, you stink. Go take a shower, kid,” Tony insisted, pinching his nose for affect. The room fell silent for a few moments before Howard spoke up.

“I can’t handle this anymore,” he blurted. “You have to tell me what happens to Stark Industries.”

“Howard,” Maria complained.

“I have to hear this as well,” Obadiah added, earning a scowl from Maria. Maria placed a soft hand on Tony’s shoulders, the other on her belly.

“He’s doing our best to protect us and our future. You can’t impose on him like this,” Maria warned him.

“It’s hard to see what’s at stake when I’m staring my own son in his eyes when he’s years older than me,” Howard scoffed. “I just want to know what we did, how far we took it. You can understand that, right? You’re driving around in the most luxurious car I’ve ever seen!”

“A Ford Taurus would be luxury to you,” Tony scoffed. “You’re from 1970.”

“But what was the tipping point?”

“Me,” Tony answered cheekily.

“This sounds like an interesting conversation that should not be happening,” Pepper said, entering the room already dressed. “I see why Rhodey made sure I was around.”

“You live here,” Tony scoffed.

“Where’s Morgan?”

“Uh, not eating Poptarts,” Tony said, ignoring the way her eyes narrowed at him.

“And Peter?”

“Ah, showing after his _run_ ,” Tony said with a toothy smile. Pepper nodded in understanding.

“How about we get our guests some actual food and clear up some things?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to reiterate that this is in no way at all connected to Hero, despite the misleading name of this work and the series. The events that happen in this one aren't affected by nor would they affect what happens in that fic.  
> This is also non canon since Tony, Peter, and Morgan are all obviously still alive and together. I had it taking place in 2023, as you'll figure out in this chapter. The way I imagined it is that everything is the same except Tony survived.  
> Thank you to everyone who's left kudos and comments. I couldn't help but power through writing block because of it. There's more plot in this chapter, so hopefully it lives up to expectations.

“What exactly was your plan for today?” Tony looked up when he heard a question directed at him from Pepper. He blinked at her a few times, letting his fork drop back down to his plate.

“Uhh…” Tony hummed, squinting his eyes in thought. “Not a damn thing.” Peter and Morgan snorted simultaneously, while Pepper him a disapproving glare. “What? What can we do that’s safe for them?” Tony said, nodding towards their guests.

“Why don’t you and the boys go out hiking or something. Enjoy the outdoors?” Pepper suggested.

“Me and the boys?” Tony scoffed. “Why can’t you and Morgan go. Sexist much, Pep?” Pepper rolled her eyes.

“You know Morgan would slow you down and I have work to do. Someone has to watch her, and Maria is in no condition.” Morgan looked ready to argue for a second before realizing that she didn’t really want to go outside anyway.

“You’re staring at three men who in are in no shape or form to be hiking,” Tony deadpanned.

“You’ve been talking about it for the longest time,” Pepper accused him. They both glared at each other, having a silent conversation no one else could understand. Finally, Tony sat back and let out a dramatic sigh.

“Fine!” He groaned. Peter let out a huge whoop. Maria laughed at their dynamics.

“See how easily he relented?” Maria told Howard. “You could take a note or two.” Howard didn’t respond, though he was definitely focusing on how much Tony and Pepper’s relationship differed from their own. Pepper sat at the head of the table, while Tony sat in next to his daughter who was next to his son. There wasn’t a dispute or any recognition to this behavior, making Howard wonder how much times really had changed. Maria was sassy for their generation, outspoken in a way that Howard couldn’t see a lot of other women getting away with. He loved her for it, but Pepper and Tony were an entirely different story.

“Do you even want to go hiking?” Tony asked his father and godfather, slightly shaking his head and mouthing “no” as a plea.

“Of course they do,” Maria said. “It’s beautiful out here.

“You’re only saying that because you don’t have to go,” Howard replied bitterly.

“All he ever does is hide away in his lab,” Maria mumbled to Pepper. Pepper nodded understandingly and pointed to Tony and Peter.

“These two are the exact the same. I won’t let him do it to Morgan yet.”

“Yet?” Obie asked, hearing the end of that sentence. Pepper sighed.

“She’s already inherited that relentless gene of his,” Pepper admitted. Morgan gave her a toothy smile, knowing she was talking about her. “She’s smart. I’m trying to get her to focus on something like piano—”

“What are you going to do with piano?” Howard and Tony criticized at the same time, making Pepper and Maria give them identical looks of displeasure.

“What’s wrong with piano?” Maria said, looking a bit hurt. Tony bit back a flinch.

“Nothing, it’s fine. It’s absolutely beautiful—”

“Don’t be a pushover,” Howard muttered, nudging him lightly.

“Tony can play the piano,” Pepper informed them.

“Why would you tell them that?” Tony complained. Pepper gave him an innocent look.

“What? You were going to learn anyway.”

“Maybe not, but I definitely am now,” Tony grumbled.

“You loved piano. Don’t be a scrooge about it,” Pepper teased him.

“Why don’t we just tell them my entire life story while we’re hiking?” Tony muttered sarcastically. “Come on, Pete.”

“Why do I have to go? I just got done…running!” Peter remembered at the last second.

“Yeah, after you snuck out without telling me,” Tony said, giving him a sickly-sweet smile. Peter pouted and stood up, probably better to comply than face worse punishment for doing vigilante work. Tony picked up his keys.

“What do you need those for?” Pepper questioned. Tony blinked at her innocently.

“I was just going to drive us down to the path. Jesus, Pep,” Tony bluffed, walking out before she could respond. Obadiah, Howard, and Peter followed, heading towards the car. “We’re not going hiking.”

“Yeah, I got that vibe,” Peter admitted, earning weird looks from Obadiah and Howard. “Where are we going?”

“Well, I’m going to go stir crazy if I have to stay in the house or by the house for a week while Strange figures this out, so I figure we’d give him a visit to rush him until he’s so annoyed he does nothing but work on a solution,” Tony answered.

“Dope! He’s cool,” Peter said absentmindedly, pulling out his phone. Obadiah and Howard immediately turned to look at what he was using. Tony, still driving, didn’t notice.

“What? No. No he’s not cool. I’m cool. Jesus, it’s like you have no appreciation for my work,” Tony muttered.

“Work?” Howard repeated. “What’s your kid doing?” Tony glanced over to see Peter on his phone.

“Peter, get off your phone,” Tony called out. “You’re supposed to be keeping stuff like that secret.”

“They’re staying in the house of a world-renowned engineer,” Peter muttered, his thumbs flying over the screen.

“Yeah? Tell MJ that you just blew your cover!” Tony looked over to see Peter go completely red, closing out of whatever he was using on his phone.

“I wasn’t texting MJ!” Peter denied.

“I’m sorry, you said this was a phone?” Obadiah breathed in disbelief. Peter nodded enthusiastically while Tony shook his head frantically.

“Pete—”

“Yeah, it’s touchscreen,” Peter said, unlocking his phone for them to see. Tony grumbled to himself since Peter obviously wasn't listening to him. Both of the men grabbed for it, but Howard got to it first, ready to analyze every aspect of it. “Please, don’t break it. Tony will murder me.”

“You call your father Tony?” Obadiah asked since Howard was too mesmerized by the device. Peter made eye contact with Tony.

“It’s complicated…” Peter stammered. Obadiah was definitely about to ask more questions before Howard accidentally started to blast music from Peter’s phone, making everyone in the car jump.

“Is that music?” Howard said with a giant smile on his face. “A small device containing an actual song?”

“Multiple songs, actually,” Peter answered while turning it off.

“That’s absolutely amazing,” Howard breathed. “Who made this?”

“Well, he made this particular model,” Peter admitted sheepishly, nodding towards Tony. “But phones in general have evolved.”

“Enough with the history lesson, Pete,” Tony advised. Howard waved him off from the backseat.

“Relax. It would take my entire lifetime to figure out something like this, especially with my tech,” Howard said, turning the phone over in his hands. “And I’ve got different plans.”

“You can take pictures too,” Peter whispered, opening the camera app on his phone and flipping it so Howard and Obadiah could see themselves. He couldn’t help but break out laughing when he saw their astonished faces on the screen, both men immediately move to see how the screen corresponded the camera. Peter took a few pictures.

“I should’ve left you at home,” Tony muttered, his complaint going unheard since they were all distracted.

Tony rolled up to the compound, not entirely sure if Strange was still there. He had parked underground in a more discreet location so as to retain some sort of secrecy to situation, though everyone probably knew and pretended not to. The other followed after him, still definitely distracted by Peter’s phone. Tony strolled into the lab he originally found out about them in, a bit surprised to see Bruce and Strange in there working.

“Oh, this was easy enough.” Both men looked up as the rest of them showed up.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Strange exasperated.

“Tony? What are you doing here?” Bruce said at the same time in a much calmer tone. “What are they doing here?”

“I’m here with a positive attitude and a helping hand for whatever it takes to fix this mess,” Tony said with a forced smile, quickly glancing at Peter. He was showing them a video on his phone. “Very desperate.”

“You thought bringing them back here was a good idea?” Strange asked in a condescending tone.

“Seeing as they’re related to me and there’s more secrets in my house, yeah,” Tony answered. “Especially with these two.”

“This is the worst place you could have brought them,” Strange argued. He looked like he was about to say something else before he was cut off, an alarm blaring through the room.

“That doesn’t sound good…” Tony muttered. He made eye contact with Peter, who looked twice as alarmed.

“The alarms are going off. Why are the alarms going off?” Bruce muttered in a panic, trying to look for a sign of attack. Strange stood stiffly, his eyes never leaving the door. “Do you know what’s going on.” Strange didn’t answer. Instead, he conjured a couple of shields, clearly ready for a fight. That was all Tony needed to see before he was tapping his chest and letting the armor cover him. Peter didn’t have his suit, so Tony was already pulling him behind him.

“What in the hell?” Tony heard Howard mutter, his pounding heart almost blocking it out.

A few people dressed in robes similar to Strange’s walked in like they owned the place. They spread out until they were circling the original occupants of the room, all with blank expressions.

“What are your intentions?” Strange called out, making Tony’s head snap towards him.

“We’re here to reap the benefits of our labor,” one of the men spoke lowly. Strange eyes flickered towards Howard and Obadiah, making Tony’s narrow behind his mask.

“What’s he talking about, Strange?” Tony growled out. Strange didn’t get to answer before they were being attacked. Tony pushed Peter behind him before he was attacking anybody who came his way, simultaneously trying to keep men from getting to Howard or Obadiah. Strange was fighting off as many as he could, clearly skilled in his craft. However, they were still heavily outnumbered. Even Bruce was in a panic as they seemed to successfully strapped him down with magic ropes. Tony heard a yell and turned to see one of them portaling Howard away somewhere.

“Shit!” Tony cried out, grabbing Obadiah before they could take him away as well. When he turned back, Peter was kicking some guy into another portal and dodging attacks from another. One of the robed figures called something out, and they were retreating into their own portals. Tony thought his heart might have stopped when he saw Peter get pulled back with one of them. “Fuck! They got Peter! Oh, my god, they got Peter!”

“Yes, we saw!” Strange yelled back, out of breath and aggravated. Bruce stood up, freed from the restraints once they all left.

“What are we going to do? Who were those guys?” Tony exasperated, retracting the suit’s helmet. He was going to throw up. They got Peter.

“What’s happening? Where’s Howard?” Obadiah said in a panic.

“I don’t know!” Strange yelled.

“Yeah? What do you know? You clearly recognized those guys. Hell, I recognized those guys because they looked like you!” Tony argued. “So what are you hiding?”

“Not all magic users know each other, you imbecile,” Strange sneered. “I don’t know exactly who they are. I just recognized their craft.”

“But you knew that they were responsible for whatever the hell is happening. Now they have Peter! So I’m going to need you to fucking fess up right now!” Tony yelled back, getting unforgivingly close in Strange’s face. Instead of responding with equal vigor, Strange let out a shaky sigh.

“I’m sorry. I know. We’ll get them back,” Strange said calmly. Tony was too exasperated to care about how he said it.

“Yeah, we fucking will. Let’s go. Where are they?” Tony said, his helmet coming back on.

“I don’t know. Even if I did, we couldn’t just rush in there without a plan.”

“We damn well could and will,” Tony argued.

“They overpowered us on our own turf. They’ll be much stronger wherever they reside,” Strange reasoned. Tony groaned, realizing just how difficult this was going to be. God, this had nothing to do with Spiderman, yet Peter was involved anyway, _without his suit_.

“Who were those people?” Obadiah said angrily, aggravated that he wasn’t included in the conversation.

“They’re magic users like Strange,” Bruce explained.

“Magic what?” Obadiah sputtered. “You’re talking nonsense. This is some 21st century bullshit you’re pulling on me, and I’m not having it—”

“No one’s pulling shit on you, Obie!” Tony shouted. “I need you to kindly shut the fuck up so I can figure out what the hell we’re going to do.” Tony put a fist to his forehead, trying to calm himself down.

“Alright, here’s what’s going to happen…”

* * *

“Was it bad?” Maria said. Pepper looked up from cutting fruit to see Maria with a suggestive hand on her belly.

“What, Tony or having a baby?” Pepper teased in a serious tone. Maria’s face broke out into a smile.

“Both, I suppose. I’m so scared, even though I won’t tell Howard that. He’d freak out,” Maria admitted. “But Morgan’s so beautiful and carefree and healthy…it’s a bit refreshing from seeing screaming kids in the city.”

“I don’t know much about Tony as a baby, but…” Pepper paused for a second. “You guys have Jarvis, don’t you?” Maria perked up, her eyes softening.

“Yes, we do,” Maria said excitedly. “You’ve met him?” Pepper’s smile faltered a bit, making Maria’s do the same. “Oh, right. He is a bit older than us…”

“His legacy lives on the same,” Pepper reassured her softly. “Tony looked up to him so much he…named some things after him.”

“That’s sweet,” Maria whispered, mostly to herself. Pepper almost let herself slip, saying she had some things named after her too, but that would escalate into the whys and hows that Pepper wasn’t ready to explain. “He stays with us a long time, then?”

“Till the end,” Pepper answered softly. “You won’t have time to think about that. Tony is enough trouble as is.” Maria thought she should be concerned, but she couldn’t help but giggle at the fond smile on Pepper’s face.

“Yeah? How so?”

“Well, first off, he’s really smart, even for a kid.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh no is right,” Pepper laughed. “He’ll get into all sorts of trouble. He’s also very charming, which I imagine he gets from you.”

“I’m imaging how that’s how he won you over?” Maria asked. Pepper snorted, shaking her head.

“No, he wasn’t quite so suave with me,” Pepper said. “I, uh, used to be his PA.” Maria blinked at her. “Yeah, I know…”

“You must have stood out quite a bit,” Maria said. “I just wasn’t expecting that to be your occupation. You must have been very efficient, cut out for more than just secretary work…” Maria sounded a bit disappointed.

“I can tell you that I definitely moved on from that,” Pepper said with a secret smile to herself. “Tony wouldn't have never survived without me.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Maria laughed. “Sometimes I wonder how Howard ever survived without me reminding him to come out of his workshop to eat.”

“Tony’s resorted to stocking up a fridge in there. Peter takes nonperishables,” Pepper explained with a roll of her eyes.

“Howard has resorted to wrapping injuries with duct tape—”

“Tony does the same thing! I even took bandages down there so he specifically wouldn’t do that!” Pepper cried out. They laughed together.

“Mommy.” Both women turned to see Morgan standing there. “I want a banana.” Pepper already had a couple out, planning to use it for the smoothies she was making. She peeled one before giving it to Morgan. She ran off without another word.

“She’s so cute, and she looks just like her father,” Maria whispered. “Makes me wonder if Tony will look like her.” Maria turned back towards her. “How was she as a baby?” Pepper shrugged.

“I’m not around children a lot besides her, never have been,” Pepper admitted. “She cried when she wanted something. Sometimes she cried even if she didn’t, but we figured it out. You guys will too.”

“I mean, he’s obviously okay, but I can’t help but feel…”

“Like you’ll still mess it up?” Pepper helped her finish. Maria blinked at her before nodding. “Well don’t. Also, don’t think you’re the only one. You should have seen Tony. He told a billion and a half plans on what he was going to do with Morgan and how she was going to be raised detail by detail so that he couldn’t ‘mess her up...’” Pepper trailed off a bit. “Then she was born, and Tony didn’t talk about anything. He just wanted to hold her.” Maria rubbed her own belly, looking deep in thought as Pepper’s words came to an end. “I’m sure Tony is giving Howard the same talk. It’s probably not as eloquent, but what can you do?” Pepper snorted.

* * *

Peter and Howard were locked in a room, not a cell. It was already making Peter nervous. Whoever their kidnappers were, they knew that they overpowered them without any real effort. Howard was groaning as he stood up from the spot they threw him at.

“What’s going on? Where are we?” Howard asked. “What is this place?”

“I don’t know!” Peter bit back, already annoyed.

“Oh, my god, Maria! Where’s Maria?” Howard called out.

“Not here! Calm down!” Peter yelled, trying to listen at the door for anybody. He couldn’t hear anything.

“What was that thing your father was wearing, the suit?” Howard stammered out, gesturing to his own body to clarify.

“It’s complicated. Can you be quiet?” Howard stormed closer to him.

“Can I be quiet? I just got kidnapped in the fucking 21st century. Now a twelve-year-old who knows more than I do it telling me to shut up? I don’t think so,” Howard growled. He started to pace around the room again. Peter rolled his eyes and went back to listening at the door. “This is all a lie, isn’t it? He’s not really my son, is he? This is a big trick!”

“A trick?” Peter muttered under his breath, shaking his head. “That would be quite the stunt to pull off.”

“Where’s your little doohickey?” Howard asked. Peter frowned at him. “The little device that plays music and takes photos, where is it?” Peter’s jaw dropped into an understand “oh!” before pulling out his phone and unlocking it. “Yes! That’s it! What can you do with it?”

“Nothing. I’ve got no service,” Peter snorted. He was so used to getting himself out of dangerous situations with Spiderman that he hadn’t even stopped to consider that he could use his phone.

“What? What does that mean?” Howard stuttered.

“It means that I can’t call or text anybody because nothing will connect,” Peter muttered, shoving the phone back into his pocket. “The good thing is that Tony is paranoid, so he’ll probably still be able to track it.”

“Track it? The device?”

“It’s a phone. I’ve told you that,” Peter clarified. “And yes.”

“Why would a twelve-year-old have a tracking device?” Howard muttered in a confused tone, frowning at the ground.

“I’m sixteen!” Peter corrected. “And it’s because I practically live with Tony Stark. That amongst other things that get me into trouble…” Peter quieted down a bit when he realized that, despite their current situation, he was still supposed to be keeping things on the down-low.

“Why does that matter?” Howard asked. “What do you mean practically?”

“Why do you ask so many questions?” Peter questioned nervously. “Let’s just be quiet together.”

“No. I’ve sat quietly long enough. I want to know what’s going on. Who are you guys? How do I know I can trust you?” Howard interrogated, getting closer to Peter again.

“You don’t, but there’s not much you can do about it here…” Peter muttered. Howard’s eyes narrowed at him.

“You know, Morgan looks strikingly like her mother and her father,” Howard muttered, “but you… You don’t look like either of them.” Peter blinked blankly at him. “Tony looks like me. I can’t deny that, but I still can’t figure out what the hell you’re doing here if you’re not his son? Who are you, some kid whose mom claimed Tony knocked her up—”

“Woah there,” Peter laughed nervously. “It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it,” Howard growled. “How do I know you’re not with them?” Howard motioned to the door, meaning the people who kidnapped them. Peter didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t make and rash movements when Howard grabbed his wrist.

“Wow, that’s not a good idea,” Peter said with a humorless chuckle.

“Give me the phone,” Howard demanded lowly. Peter frowned.

“What? Why would I do that?”

“Give me the damn phone!” Howard all but yelled. Peter shuffled awkwardly to pull the device out of his pocket before nervously slapping it into Howard’s hand. Howard shoved Peter away from him. Peter let himself fall given the force Howard shoved him with. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to make him anymore suspicious. Because of this decision, Peter couldn’t do anything but watch with a dropped jaw as Howard threw the phone full force at the wall.

“Hey, what the hell!” Peter yelled. He scrambled to get it, but Howard was already marching towards the device. It was a StarkPhone, and it didn’t break so easily. Howard saw this and started to stomp on it. “Dude, no, stop!” Peter went to pull Howard away, but the device had already started to crack in half. Peter and Howard both went to shuffle through the broken parts. Peter found the tracker and held it up for both of them to see that it was destroyed. Howard let out a relieved sigh. “Goddammit! What did you do that for?” Peter was starting to panic now, helplessly trying to repair the tiny device.

“You’re not killing me and my family, punk,” Howard said triumphantly. Peter threw his head back.

“I’m on your side!” Peter cried out, cradling the tracking device and holding onto some hope that Tony could still use it.

“Either way, I’m getting out of this on my own,” Howard muttered, marching towards the door. Peter stood in front of the door that was most likely locked anyway. “Out of the way kid,” Howard growled threateningly.

“No! You’re staying here until Tony and Dr. Strange show up,” Peter declared seriously, fed up with how Howard was reacting to everything. Howard scoffed and tried to push Peter out of the way. Peter held his ground. Howard blinked at him before trying again with more force. Peter didn’t even flinch.

“What the hell are you?” Howard stuttered, moving back.

“A fed up sixteen-year-old,” Peter mumbled, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly. “Look, you’re not going to escape on your own. If you find a way out, they’ll just throw you right back in here until they’re ready for you.”

“What the hell would they want with me?” Howard asked. Peter shrugged.

“I don’t know, actually. If I had to guess, they probably want something from Tony.” Howard scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“If they wanted Tony, they would have taken Tony!” Peter narrowed his eyes and shrugged.

“Tony’s pretty good at finding his way out of situations like this. The way to get him to do things isn’t with force but leverage,” Peter reasoned. “People he cares about.”

“What do they want?”

“I don’t know. I don’t really want to know. I want to go home, which I could have done a lot easier if you didn’t break my phone!” Peter cried out, motioning to the shattered device a few feet away. Howard still looked like he had no regret to doing that, so Peter guessed he still didn’t trust him enough. “You need to trust me.”

“Yeah right,” Howard scoffed. “If you want me to trust you, you’re going to need to fess up some secrets.”

“We have secrets because you’re not supposed to be in the future!” Peter reasoned. Howard laughed humorlessly.

“Tell me who you are.” Peter narrowed his eyes at the man. “Who you really are. I know you’re not my grandson.”

“I am!” Peter insisted, making Howard roll his eyes and walk away. “I’m adopted!” Not entirely true, but it got Howard to pause and look at him.

“You’re adopted?” Howard mumbled. “Since when.”

“Uh since…” Peter started counting years on his fingers “2017…?” Also not entirely true, but this situation was full of lies.

“2017? That was six years ago. So when you were ten?” Howard deduced. Peter blinked at him. That was a logical line of reasoning, but Howard was missing a large piece of information.

“Yes?” Peter said unconfidently.

“So you’re inheriting Stark Industries?” Howard breathed.

“Uh….” Peter hesitated.

“Why did he do that?” Howard looked deep in thought. “He hadn’t had Morgan yet. He didn’t know she would be a girl.”

“This isn’t the 1700s,” Peter threw out a random century. “Males aren’t first in line to the throne.”

“So you’re saying Morgan is going to take over?” Howard guessed.

“Why don’t you worry on making sure there still is a Stark Industries,” Peter suggested, “meaning focus on getting back to 1970.”

* * *

“What exactly are you wearing?” Obadiah asked, circling Tony a few times. Tony, having finally calmed down a bit, decided to tap the reactor to retract the suit, revealing himself again. “Jesus, the technology behind that—”

“Is something you’ll never figure out in your lifetime. Don’t ask,” Tony said dully. “Strange, do you have a location yet?”

“I’m working on it!” Strange yelled back, annoyed for the fifth time that Tony had asked.

“Calm down, Tony,” Bruce said calmly. “We’re going to get them back—”

“You know better than to tell me to calm down,” Tony snarked. “You’re supposed to be working on tracking his phone!”

“Yeah, about that,” Bruce mumbled. Tony felt his stomach drop.

“What? What is it?” Tony asked, walking over to look at the monitor over Bruce’s shoulder.

“There’s no connection. They must have turned it off.”

“No,” Tony muttered. “It still works if you turn it off. Come on, Bruce. I made the thing.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not working,” Bruce said.

“Move over!” Tony demanded. He started typing away at the keyboard, almost panicking when ‘no connection’ popped up on the screen. “No…”

“Calm down, Strange is still working on it,” Bruce reassured him.

“How could it not work? It always works…”

“They must have known that it had one.”

“It doesn’t look like a typical tracking device. How could they have known?” Tony mumbled.

“They probably destroyed the entire phone, Tony. Don’t overthink it.”

“What the hell do they want anyway?” Tony mumbled, ignoring Bruce’s attempts to calm him. “They could have taken Howard and Obadiah, but they grabbed Peter instead. ‘Come to reap the benefits of our labor.’ They did this. Whatever brought Howard and Obadiah here, they did it.”

“So maybe they’re just trying to get them back?” Bruce suggested.

“But what for? Why bring them here in the first place? Maybe they wanted to kill Howard, make sure I was never born, but I’m already on the way…” Tony said, thinking back to Maria. “Fuck, I need to tell Pepper.”

“We need to send protection to them if they’re after all the time travelers,” Strange suggested. Tony’s heart started pounding faster, but he nodded along.

“They want something, something serious if they’re willing to mess with time to get it,” Tony speculated.

“I’ve got a potential location,” Strange announced, already preparing himself to leave. “Are you ready?” Tony turned towards Bruce.

“Get someone to the cabin and keep Obadiah out of trouble,” Tony demanded. Bruce nodded nervously. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This author loves comments. Hopefully the wait for the next chapter won't be as long.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes, I was trying to pump out a chapter so the wait wouldn't be longer than a week.  
> 2nd Disclaimer: Just like Hero, this is supposed to be pretty short, so I'm only planning for a one or two more chapters. I go to school soon, so I'm not sure when the next fic in this series will be.

“Where are we going?” Barnes said, climbing into the back seat. Tony had to do a double take to make sure he wasn’t just imagining the man.

“What are you doing?” Tony scoffed, sharing a look with Strange as he got into the passenger seat.

“What are _you_ doing?” Barnes emphasized. He nodded towards Strange. “Especially with him. He can teleport anywhere, right?”

“I don’t teleport—” Strange started to argue.

“Did you just come here because you saw us getting into a car?” Tony asked. Barnes shrugged.

“You looked secretive. I figured you’d at least want a spy for whatever you’re doing. I just got done training with Sam.”

“Speaking of which, where is he?” Tony said, finally deciding to drive with Strange’s instructions.

“I think he heading out to visit D.C. Either way, I’m free,” Barnes said.

Tony and Bucky’s relationship had become a sardonic one, with Tony becoming the only one to not call him by his nickname. As it turned out, losing your life and almost losing your life again was a good way to get rid of past grievances. It was a lucky result for them since they actually did get along well when large obstacles were out of the way.

“Strange’s wizard friends kidnapped Peter,” Tony grumbled. “And someone else.” Barnes tilted his head and leaned forward.

“Someone else?” Tony glared at him using the rearview mirror. “If I’m helping on this rescue mission, wouldn’t it be useful to know who I’m rescuing.”

“Or I could pull over and let you get out,” Tony muttered. Barnes barked out a laugh.

“Leaving the two of you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You aren’t exactly New York’s finest,” Barnes snorted. “And certainly not with each other.”

“I’m going to ignore that simply because of the fact that I’m stressed enough without you inciting conflict,” Tony responded bitterly. “We’re saving Peter and my father.” Barnes didn’t respond, so Tony looked at him in the rearview mirror. He was staring back. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I’m waiting for you to cut the bullshit.”

“I’m serious!” Tony scoffed. “Strange tell him!” Strange just hummed, looking out the window. Tony was pretty sure the man never rode in a vehicle with his special powers.

“You’re refusing to teleport even though you have Strange, and you’re looking for your father,” Barnes repeated the information Tony had provided him.

“I know what it sounds like,” Tony admitted. “But we’re dealing with magic users. Using Strange’s portals to get in might not be the safest way if they’re expecting it. Also this has to do entirely with them and their magic. Yes, I’m talking about the real Howard Stark.”

“Like a revived Howard Stark?” Barnes questioned.

“No, like a 1970 Howard Stark,” Tony corrected. Barnes hummed putting his elbows behind the headrests of the seats.

“So time travel?” Barnes pondered. “I thought we were done with all of that stuff?”

“You and me both,” Tony complained. “Strange, do you have any idea what they want?” Strange finally looked over from the window to give them a blank stare.

“I do not. If I had to guess, I would say they aren’t from this timeline.” Tony blinked at him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“They didn’t look familiar,” Strange said with a shrug. “And it makes more sense for them to come to the future with Howard Stark than it does for them to be in the future bringing Howard Stark to them.”

“No it doesn’t!” Tony scoffed. “What are we going to do when we get them?”

“Figure out how to send them back ourselves,” Strange drawled, looking back out of the window. Tony exchanged a look with Barnes in the rearview mirror, the latter just shrugging his shoulders and leaning back in his seat.

“You said Wilson is in D.C.?” Tony asked. Barnes nodded. “Then I have another job for you.” Tony pulled the car over.

* * *

“What was your father wearing?” Howard questioned. Peter looked up from where he was pathetically collecting the broken pieces of his phone to stare at him. “Don’t look at me like that, just answer the question.”

“It was a suit,” Peter admitted, going back to scooping up parts.

“I saw that. I want you to explain it,” Howard sighed, pacing around the room. “I mean, it was magnificent. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Yep, its…a thing,” Peter avoided talking about it.

“Is he coming for us?”

“Most likely.”

“Is that what Stark Industries is making these days?” Howard breathed out, fiddling his thumbs as he pondered out loud. His head snapped towards Peter when the boy let out a snort. “What?”

“Yeah, no.”

“Why not?” Howard scoffed. “It’s a suit of…armor. It flies, doesn’t it?” Peter’s jaw dropped.

“How could you possibly know that?” Peter rasped, purposefully avoiding Howard’s eyes.

“The repulsors on his hands. They’re a weapon, but they’re also used for flight stabilization, aren’t they?” Howard mused, beginning his pacing again. Peter just gaped at him until Howard noticed and laughed. “Why do you look so surprised? Tony had to get his smarts from someone.”

“Yeah, but you barely saw it,” Peter mumbled.

“Not all of it,” Howard whispered to himself. Peter’s heartbeat increased a bit when he saw Howard tapping his chest. “There was something else. I just saw a glimpse, but it was…” Howard’s eyes widened. “It was the arc reactor.”

“What….?” Peter said in fake shock. “No way…”

“It was!” Howard confirmed after seeing the look on Peter’s face. “But it was miniaturized. That’s _amazing_! That’s what powers the suit.”

“You’re getting a lot better at this,” Peter muttered miserably. “If anybody asks, you figured it out by yourself.”

“Of course I figured it out by myself,” Howard laughed. “Everything starts connecting once you figure out one thing. What I’m still confused about is why he has that suit if it’s not made by Stark Industries?”

“Probably because he doesn’t make weapons anymore,” Peter answered, trying to put the rest of his phone together even though he knew it was beyond repair. He had nothing better to do other than make sure Howard didn’t go crazy again.

“What do you mean he doesn’t make weapons?” Howard breathed. He stomped closer to Peter, making his work fall apart. Peter looked up at him with an annoyed expression. “Explain.”

“Explain what? He stopped making weapons years ago,” Peter said casually with a shrug.

“Why?” Howard asked desperately. “How could I let him do that? How could Obadiah let him do that?”

“It wasn’t exactly your choice, old man,” Peter answered, ignoring the astonished expression Howard gave him. “All your questions just generate more questions. Can you stop?”

“How can I now?” Howard snarked. “I have to make sure my life isn’t ruined. You basically just told me I have no control over my own company.” Peter rolled his eyes. “What do we make if not weapons?”

“You’re still a technology company,” Peter drawled. “Don’t be so dramatic.” Howard came until he stood right in front of him.

“No. I want you to tell me everything that’s being made,” Howard demanded lowly.

* * *

Maria was drawing with Morgan at the latter’s request. Maria insisted that it was fine, and that she needed to get off her feet for a while anyway. Morgan was quite chatty when she wanted to be, so Pepper was quite sure that she could sneak away to answer this phone call from Bruce without any suspicion.

“Is something wrong? Did you guys figure something out?” Pepper asked upon answering the phone.

“Uh…depends on what you’re talking about,” Bruce said nervously. Pepper was silent for a moment.

“What do you mean?”

“There was an incident at the compound involving Howard Stark and Peter…” Bruce said it like he really wished he wasn’t the one who had to deliver the bad news.

“Howard and Peter?” Pepper exclaimed. “What are they doing at the—” Pepper cut herself off the heave a sigh when she started connecting the dots. “What happened?” Bruce explained everything from Tony’s arrival to his and Strange’s departure. Bruce called her name multiple times when Pepper was trying to compose herself before responding. “Are we safe?”

“Well, Tony and Strange told me to send someone, but everyone’s MIA all of a sudden!” Bruce said, slightly panicked. Pepper heard a knock on the door and felt her heart skip a beat. She cursed under her breath. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Is someone at the door?” Maria called out innocently. Pepper didn’t know what to do. If it was the people after them, they obviously wouldn’t knock at the door. Still, Pepper had a right to be paranoid. She crept towards the window to peak out, letting out a sigh before going to open the front door. “Sergeant Barnes?”

“Bucky is there?” Bruce sputtered over the phone. Barnes smiled tightly. Pepper gaped at him before moving aside to let him in.

“Yes, he is. I think you’re good on sending someone to us,” Pepper told him. “I think you should just keep a close eye on Obadiah, especially since he’s at the compound, exactly where he shouldn’t be.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that…” Bruce responded quietly. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Pepper threw another look at Barnes.

“Yes, we’ll be okay.” Pepper turned back to Barnes when she hung up the phone. He was uniformed up and carrying a rifle, a sight Pepper never thought she’d see in her own home.

“Stark told me you guys could use some protection,” Barnes informed her, trying to keep his tone casual.

“Did he tell you about…?” Pepper trailed off, thinking about Maria Stark sitting in the kitchen with her daughter.

“Your time travelers? Yeah. Though, I’m not exactly sure I believe that.” Pepper let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding in before waving for Barnes to follow her. She led him into the kitchen where Morgan and Maria were still drawing. Morgan looked up when she heard footsteps.

“Bucky!” Morgan said, jumping down from her stool to great the man.

“Bucky?” Maria and Pepper said at the same time. Pepper couldn’t remember a time Morgan had ever met Barnes, so this must have been the work of Tony. Maria was studying him, her eyes lingering on his face most of all. “Bucky…” Maria repeated.

“Mrs. Stark,” Barnes greeted, smirking at Pepper as he did so. “I’m just here for protection.”

“Protection?” Maria blinked, looking over at Pepper. “What’s going on?”

“Tony took the boys back to the compound,” Pepper admitted, finally feeling a little aggravated at Tony’s actions. “The people who they think brought you here took Peter and Howard. Dr. Strange and Tony are on their way now to retrieve them.”

“They’ve been kidnapped?” Maria exclaimed.

“Pete’s gone?” Morgan asked, looking at each adult for an answer. Pepper put a hand on her head.

“Daddy’s getting them back,” Pepper reassured her. “Plus, Peter’s with him—”

“Your poor son?” Maria put a hand to her belly, starting to look more stressed by the second. Pepper walked over to put a hand on her shoulder.

“They’re going to be fine. I can assure you that. You need to calm down,” Pepper said soothingly, trying to get Maria to sit down. Maria took a few deep breaths at Pepper’s demand before looking back up at Barnes. “Him…”

“What about him?” Pepper asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

“I recognize him from somewhere. I just don’t know where…” Maria pondered out loud. Pepper looked back at Barnes, who clearly looked uncomfortable. It was only then that Pepper realized the history the two had together or would have together in Maria’s case. Barnes was absolutely horrified, but he hid it well. Barnes could only stand to stay in the same room for so long before he nodded to Pepper marched back to the living room. “Are we the only time travelers?”

“Why do you ask?” Pepper asked hesitantly. Maria continued to stare after the doorway Barnes left through.

“Because that man…If I hadn’t time traveled myself, I’d be skeptical, but now I know. It has to be James Barnes.”

* * *

“What’s our tactic here?” Tony whispered as he and Strange crept outside the building Strange indicated had to be their headquarters.

“Find them and leave,” Strange whispered back like it was obvious, making Tony stare at him blankly. “Don’t look at me like that. Our number one objective is to get them out of here. If these people continue to be a threat, then we deal with them afterwards.”

“Fuck it, let’s go,” Tony grunted, preparing a gauntlet so they could stay stealthy. He followed Strange’s lead, letting the man lead them stealthily through the building, leaning up against walls to hide from passing figures. “How do you know where we’re going?”

“Magic,” Strange mumbled sarcastically, throwing an irritated look in Tony’s direction. He put out a hand to stop him when they came upon door. Strange put a finger up to his mouth before putting his ear up against the door. Strange nodded at Tony’s hand, indicating for him to ready for fire. Tony nodded back, taking a deep breath as Strange swung the door open.

“Dad!” Peter let out cry of relief after the door slammed open. Initially, the sudden action had scared him, but he hadn’t felt anything with his spidey tingle. Tony let his arm drop immediately, feeling an immense amount of pressure drop off his shoulders when he saw Peter. He ignored whatever Strange was saying, walking over to throw his hands around his id.

“Thank god,” Tony mumbled. Peter mumbled something into Tony’s shirt that he couldn’t hear. Tony pressed a kiss to his forehead, holding him for a few seconds before letting him go. Peter stepped back, looking disheveled and slightly embarrassed.

“We’re fine,” Peter repeated.

“Jesus fucking Christ, don’t ever do that to me again,” Tony breathed, almost reaching out for him again.

“You brought me with you!” Peter protested.

“And I regret it immensely!” Tony argued back.

“If you’re done with your reunion, now would be a very good time to get out of here,” Strange interrupted. Tony turned to flip him off, only then remembering that Howard was there as well, staring at their interaction.

“Howard,” Tony said, nodding at the man. “Glad to see you’re okay.”

“Yeah…” Howard trailed off, his eyes flickering to the ground.

“I don’t know if now is the best time to bring it up, but…” Peter held up what was left of his phone, making Tony’s jaw drop as he picked up the tracking device. “There was a misunderstanding.”

“That resulted in you breaking your phone and therefore your tracker?” Tony whispered harshly.

“Technically, it was him,” Peter said, nodding towards Howard, not the least bit concerned that he was using him as the scapegoat. Tony threw a glare at the man who still looked confused as everything that was going on.

“Whatever, let’s just get out of here,” Tony sighed, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder and letting Strange lead them back out. No one noticed them, which made Tony concerned that they were occupied with something else. If it wasn’t a rescue mission, Tony would stop to investigate, but he only had one goal at the moment.

They arrived home and, within a few seconds, Peter was tumbling into the arms of Pepper, who showered him with concerned questions. Maria waddled over to do the same for Howard, both of them holding in an embrace for a few seconds.

“I swear I’m fine,” Peter mumbled into Peppers shoulder, throwing Tony a deadpan look over her shoulder. When Pepper was done with Peter, she turned to Tony. Tony held up his hands innocently as she walked closer to him.

“Hey, Pep—” Tony started.

“Really, Tony. You took them back to the compound?” Pepper all but growled.

“I’m sorry! You know how I am. I can’t just sit by and wait for things to be done,” Tony defended himself. “At least now we have a lead as to their appearance,” Tony noted, gesturing to Howard and Maria. Tony then turned to Strange. “And Obadiah could use a ride back.”

“And I could use a ride too.” Tony turned and remembered that he had sent Barnes to protect them while they were gone. It only took Tony a split second to realize the mistake he had made when he saw Maria and Howard make eye contact with him.

“Holy shit…” Howard whispered, inching closer to Barnes, who looked deeply uncomfortable by this point. “It can’t be…” Pepper exchanged a worried look with Tony, both of them trying to figure out how they were going to address this. “Is that Sergeant Barnes?”

“It is, isn’t it?” Maria exclaimed, confirming her suspicions. “Pepper told me it couldn’t be, but he looks exactly like him.”

“That’s not possible,” Howard whispered. He paused in his steps, whipping around to look at the rest of the Starks. “I knew it. This isn’t real. This is a trick.” Howard grabbed Maria’s arm, pushing her behind him. “Where’s Obadiah? Where is he?” Howard exclaimed, clearly panicking. He jumped back when Morgan came running into the room, immediately running into her dad’s arms. Maria and Howard both watched her curiously as Morgan tucked herself into her dad’s eyes. Tony held an arm out.

“You have to calm down,” Tony warned them.

“No,” Howard breathed. “We want to leave.”

“We can’t let you do that,” Strange warned them, also holding up his hands to try to calm the room. “The people who you’re after is not us, but the people who took you. We’re working on returning you to your original time period, but you have to work with us.”

“How can I?” Howard scoffed. “There’s just secret after secret. They could all be lies for all I know.” Strange turned towards Tony, who had an equally exasperated expression.

“Fine,” Tony relented. “We’ll sit down and talk, but only if you agree to cooperate.” Howard and Maria continued to stand stiffly, scrutinizing the group for a few moments.

“Not until Obie is here,” Howard demanded. Tony rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Yes, fine.” Tony motioned to Strange, who disappeared to retrieve Obadiah. “Now, why don’t we sit down?” Howard didn’t let go of Maria as they sat on a loveseat together, never taking their eyes off the group. Pepper put a hand on Tony’s shoulder, her eyes flickering towards Morgan and then Peter. Tony got the message. “I don’t want them out of sight,” Tony whispered, sitting down with Morgan now in his lap.

It only took a few moments for Strange to convince Obadiah to return to him. Both Howard and Maria let out a sigh of relief when he came into sight. Tony only felt all the more uncomfortable.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Pepper whispered. Tony just gave her a tight smile before looking over at Barnes and Strange.

“I think we’ll be fine,” Tony told them quietly. Strange raised an eyebrow.

“Are you sure about that?” Strange asked lowly.

“You have a job to do,” Tony reminded him. “Take Barnes with you.” Pepper put a hand on Tony’s leg, but he ignored it. “Come on,” Tony chuckled humorlessly, “I know these people.” Both men looked at him apprehensively before Strange finally nodded, taking Barnes with him back to the compound.

“I was born on May 29th,” Tony started, immediately gaining the attention of everyone in the room. “I don’t have any siblings,” Tony admitted, gaining a concerned expression from Pepper at the information he was revealing. “Your butler, Jarvis, practically raised me.” Maria and Howard’s expressions softened at the familiar name. “I built my first circuit board when I was four and my first engine when I was six—”

“Jesus,” Obadiah muttered.

“I inherited Stark Industries when I was 21,” Tony continued. “When I was 38, I closed down the weapons division when I discovered some black-market dealings, making the weapons end up in the hands of the terrorists.” Tony’s eyes unwillingly flickered to Obadiah, who was staring seriously at the floor as Tony convinced them that he was who he said he was.

“I want to here about Barnes,” Howard stated. “That was him, wasn’t it? That’s impossible.”

“Barnes never died,” Tony explained. “He was taken by the same organization that Steve Rogers…died trying to take down.” Howard looked pained to hear about Rogers, probably holding onto a thread of hope that Steve was still alive since Barnes was. Howard would technically be correct, but Tony didn’t need to indulge all of their secrets. “They kept him…let’s call it ‘preserved’ over the years. They brainwashed him. We only found him a few years ago.”

“What do you do with him?” Obadiah asked. Tony blinked up at him. “He’s a weapon, isn’t he? Why do you guys keep him around?”

“There’s a program that we call the Avengers Initiative,” Tony answered. “It was started by S.H.I.E.LD.” That name made Howard perk up. “Specifically Nick Fury. The idea was the bring together enhanced individuals like Barnes to be there when the people needed them.”

“And you’re in it,” Howard added. Maria looked conflicted at the news, her hand subconsciously going to her belly. “Because of the suit.” Tony leaned back and shrugged.

“Kind of. It’s complicated.”

“You have a weapon that powerful, but you won’t use it or give it others?” Howard scoffed. Tony noticed Obadiah also looking aggravated at the news.

“It’s not meant as a weapon. It’s meant to provide protection,” Tony defended. “In the wrong hands, it becomes a tool used for power,” Tony said the last part aggressively, trying to avoid Obadiah’s stare. “Barnes isn’t a weapon either. That’s not what the initiative is about.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you aren’t participating,” Howard spat. “If there’s problems big enough in the world to warrant something like that suit, then you should still be around to stop them!”

“I have stopped them,” Tony said softly. “For years. I’ve sacrificed my life, and I almost lost everything.” Tony couldn’t help but tighten his grip around Morgan. “There’s another generation of Avengers coming. They won’t need me anymore.”

“I have a question,” Obadiah said, stepping forward. He chuckled humorlessly, looking back and forth between Tony and Howard. “Why did you inherit the company at 21?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Maria asked. Howard snorted and put a hand on Howard’s shoulder.

“We’ve been running this thing together,” Obadiah said, a bit of tension in his voice. “Does that all stop when he’s here?”

“Obie, you know I’d never cut you out like that,” Howard assured him. “But someone’s gotta take over eventually. Besides, you see how successful it’s become.”

“I don’t,” Obadiah denied. “I haven’t seen anything about Stark Industries, actually. All I know is that we don’t make weapons anymore, and the greatest piece of technology I’ve ever seen isn’t even associated with it.”

“It’s still a leading company,” Peter mumbled, shrinking under the warning looks of Pepper and Tony to stay quiet.

“Why so soon, 21?” Obadiah scoffed.

“I was doing big things by 21,” Howard defended. “And that’s without my father’s guidance. Imagine what Tony’s doing by then.” Tony had to resist the urge to roll his eyes, nudging Peter when the boy unsuccessfully attempted to cover up his snort.

“But why so soon?” Obadiah pleaded. He turned towards Tony to plead his case. “Did you even want to be CEO that early?”

“No,” Tony admitted. Obadiah let his arms spread out, like he made his point. “I didn’t get that much of a choice.

“What do you mean?” Obadiah asked.

“I’m an only child,” Tony reiterated. “Therefore the only one left to inherit the company.”

“He’s using that word again,” Maria mumbled. “Why inherit?”

“Because that’s what the next generation does,” Howard explained. “After years of handling the company, I think I was able to raise my son to do it just as well.”

“But you’re so attached,” Maria added, suddenly seeing Obadiah’s argument. “You and Obadiah. Something must have happened for both of you to let that happen.” Maria turned towards Tony. “What happened?”

“We’re dead, aren’t we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to focus more on their interactions rather than the conflict of how they got here. I realize I did put a lot more action into this one fic, but I felt like they needed more incentive to talk about stuff than sitting around the house. So we're looking at them discussing and getting sent home soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments telling me if you've enjoyed it, especially if you have an idea for this fic or another in the series.


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